Man pleads guilty to assassinating a top Minnesota Democrat and her husband

[Dulcinea]

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The man charged in the political assassinations of the top Democrat in the Minnesota House and her husband, as well as the nonfatal shootings of a state senator and his wife, pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday after prosecutors said they would not seek the death penalty.

Vance Boelter was charged with murdering Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark Hortman, and with shooting state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman. Boelter came to their doors in the early hours of June 14, 2025, disguised as a police officer and driving a fake squad car.

https://apnews.com/article/hortman-hoffman-boelter-minnesota-political-attack-c3e9d3e92eafbb9cfa4995935769898c

[Ocelot II]

1. Once the feds are done with him, Minnesota gets him.

The federal charge (interstate stalking) has been found not to carry the death penalty in the Luigi Mangione case, so the feds didn't pursue it - it wasn't because he shot a Democrat. And that's fine with me; I oppose the death penalty in all cases, even this one. But once the sentencing process is over, the state gets him on the murder charges, since murder isn't a federal crime except in a few limited cases (e.g., murder of a federal official). There could be a plea deal at some point as in Derek Chauvin's case, where he was allowed to serve his prison time in a federal prison instead of a state prison on the murder charge. But he was a cop, and could make a credible argument that he wouldn't be safe in a state prison, but Boelter doesn't have that going for him. I'll be interested to see what happens next. He will probably plead guilty anyhow.

[Zelda_Orchid]

2. Terrorist

[Grins]

3. Better headline: "TRUMP supporter pleads guilty to assassinating a top Minnesota Democrat

More accurate, too.

[in2herbs]

4. Why wasn't he also charged with cruelty to an animal causing death? nt

[Ocelot II]

5. He was, but that's a state crime, and this is only the federal case.

He was charged in Minnesota with first degree animal cruelty along with the murders of the Hortmans and the attempted murders of the Hoffmans. https://www.hennepinattorney.org/news/news/2025/August/boelter-indictment. Those charges will now be addressed by the state.

[in2herbs]

8. Good to know. TY nt

[kimbutgar]

6. Watch the orange pedo pardon him in the future

I wouldn’t put it past him !

[Ocelot II]

7. Trump can't pardon him for the more serious state murder charges.

He pled guilty to the federal interstate stalking charge. Pardon him for that and he still does time (and more of it) in a state prison, since there's no question that he'll either plead guilty to the murder charges or be convicted by a jury.